"What I learned through my research is that the word 'actor,' specifically in reference to those who performed in plays, came about in the late 1500s as a non-gendered word," says Dillon. "It applied to all people, regardless of anatomical sex or gender identity." The word "actress," Dillon learned, came into being to define anatomically female performers.

Xher research led her to these discoveries, huh? Xhe needed research to discover actress referred to female performers? Xhe wasn't aware -ess is a feminine suffix?

So Dillon sent an impassioned letter to the Television Academy, questioning the gender-specific classifications of the acting categories. "I wanted to get more information from the Academy as to whether or not they use the word actor or actress to refer to assigned sex or identity, so that I could make the best decision for myself as to how I wanted to be submitted," Dillon tells Variety.

From Dillon’s letter to the Academy:

"I'd like to know if in your eyes 'actor' and 'actress' denote anatomy or identity and why it is necessary to denote either in the first place? The reason I’m hoping to engage you in a conversation about this is because if the categories of 'actor' and 'actress' are in fact supposed to represent ‘best performance by a person who identifies as a woman' and ‘best performance by a person who identifies as a man’ then there is no room for my identity within that award system binary.
Furthermore, if the categories of 'actor' and 'actress' are meant to denote assigned sex I ask, respectfully, why is that necessary?"

The letter got an immediate response from the Academy, and led to what Dillon describes as a thoughtful exchange. Dillon was surprised to learn that Academy rules say that "anyone can submit under either category for any reason," says Dillon.

Oh, and in the tweet below are rounded up some tweets from a Gender Warrior. Apparently xhe is in a course on human sexuality, and is freaking out about a professor saying that men are attracted to women with a certain hip-to-waist ratio, or that women take birth control. (Or that women are genetically attracted to men with prominent biceps.)

Xhe insists the professor should say men are attracted to people with certain characteristics, and that people take female birth control pills.